“Where are we going?” Jase asked.
“To check out the Pierson farm and pick up those chickens Cash has been wanting,” Clutch said.
“If they’re even still alive,” I mumbled.
Clutch ignored me. “But you’re staying back and guarding the house. We’ll be back within three hours.”
Jase looked relieved that he didn’t have to go. “You got it, boss.”
“Whenever we’re away from my farm, we’re at risk of being overtaken,” Clutch said to me. “So we’ll clear the house and buildings first. Then, if everything’s clear, we’ll grab the chickens, food, and supplies.”
“Do you think it’s safe?” I asked.
“I haven’t seen any of the Dogs on this road yet. Maybe it’s because they’re giving me this road as long as I stay off the others.”
I nodded, but I also knew any time he used the word “maybe”, he didn’t mean it. Besides, the men we’d come across at the greenhouse seemed too greedy to give up a few miles along one quiet gravel road.
I grabbed my helmet and gear before rustling around for a couple duffels Clutch had gotten from his surplus run. This time, I packed a bottle of water and a protein bar in my jacket, a lesson I learned after finding myself empty-handed at the elementary school. Clutch was already downstairs, geared up and eating a protein bar. We needed the chickens. Having fresh food would be a much-needed morale boost for all three of us.
In the truck, I asked, “How many lived there?” Up until now, we’d only grabbed anything off farms that didn’t require entering buildings, waiting for numbers to thin out. That was before we realized that zeds just kept on going.
We all knew we should’ve started cleaning out the nearby houses earlier, knowing that it was just a matter of time before the Dogs raided the area. But by the same token, they could’ve been watching us already, waiting for the time we left the safety of the farm to come after us or the supplies on the farm.
We had to be careful. We didn’t yet know which farmhouses hid infected inside. The only way to tell was to check them out. Chances were, occupants—infected or otherwise—would likely be hostile. I gripped the machete.
“Two. The Piersons were a young couple. Just starting out,” he replied, as we reversed the seven steps to get out of the house and headed for the truck.
Clutch drove slowly enough to not kick up any dust on the gravel road while I scanned for zeds and looters.
A creek meandered down the end of Clutch’s property line. With all the rains, the Fox River had flooded, filling its tributaries, this creek being one. The ground had given way not far from the road, and I saw why we hadn’t seen more than a few zeds for a couple days. “It’s better than a mousetrap,” I said, watching the zeds trapped in the mud.
They moved in dull, slow motions that only served to have the mud pull them in deeper. One zed was naked, with mud smeared over his bloated body. All the zeds were bloated, looking as though they’d ingested twice their body weight with polluted water. A pair had been pulled so deep that they’d become stuck under the dirty water, their mouths opening and closing like fish.
“Stop,” I said.
Clutch pulled to a stop and watched me.
“Once everything dries up, they could break free,” I said.
He looked outside, thought for a moment, and then nodded.
I opened the door, lifted my rifle, and took aim. The naked zed went down. I fired again. Fourteen shots. Twelve dead zeds. I needed to work on my aim.
“Happy now?” he asked when I settled back in.
I smiled. Twelve fewer zeds to trespass onto the farm. “Very.”
The Pierson farm was only another mile down the road, just past a farmhouse much in need of a new paint job. “Since it’s so close, we can check out this one next,” I mentioned as we drove past.